Buffalo Bills agree to terms with New Orleans Saints’ A.J. Klein

The Buffalo Bills are serious about improving their roster, recently agreeing to terms with New Orleans Saints linebacker A.J. Klein.

The New Orleans Saints will be in the news quite a bit over the next few days. With the NFL carrying on their March 18 free agency commencement, teams are already picking players off the market and agreeing to terms with them.

One of the most recent players to find a new home is Saints linebacker A.J. Klein. While not an overly incredible athlete, the team was better with Klein on the field and replacing him will be no easy task.

Buffalo, according to Adam Caplan, is looking to pay him around $6 million per year for three years. This is a solid deal for Klein who likely wouldn’t have received more money had he stayed with the New Orleans Saints.

Oh, and now he’ll get to play alongside Stefon Diggs, a player the Bills also just acquired. Buffalo made the playoffs in 2019, but they’re going for it all in 2020.

The Saints may address linebacker in the draft, but it’s unlikely they use their first-round pick on the position.

Expect that fourth or fifth-round selection to be used on an A.J. Klein replacement. However, the team may also be fine moving forward as Alex Anzalone is “good to go” after missing the vast majority of the 2019 season.

As for Klein, he played 15 games this past season and all 16 in 2018. He recorded 69 combined tackles, 2.5 sacks and was even able to record his first defensive touchdowns with the Saints in 2019.

Although not a top-tier linebacker, Klein did play a career-high 71% of the defensive snaps for New Orleans, so he was good enough to consistently be on the field.

That said, Anzalone, Demario Davis, Craig Robertson, and Kiko Alonzo will all lead the charge for the team in the middle of the field in the coming season.